Fresh Fig and Amaretto Clafoutis

I love fresh figs. I love the smell of them when they are on the trees. It smells like coconut sun cream when I run past them with the dog. Like Hawaian Tropic. I also think Jo Malone’s perfume, Wild Fig & Cassis, smells like coconut too. That’s my favourite summer fragrance, in case you were wondering. Which you weren’t. That and Clarins Eau Dynamisante.

So back to figs. That actually may be the smell of them rotting on the ground. That’s the thing with fig trees, you always end up with a glut of figs. We are coming to the end of the early season figs here at the moment called “Brevas”. They are larger and darker coloured whereas the later season ones “Higos”, that are starting to ripen now, are smaller and light green.

So what do you do with a mountain of fresh figs? I do have a lot of recipes using fresh figs like this Fiery Fig Chutney, this Fresh Fig & Goats Cheese Quiche, and this Fresh Fig & Almond Ice Cream.

But my favourite at the moment is this clafoutis. It’s quick, easy and not at all bad for you really. Amaretto aside, of course. But a world without Amaretto would be a much sadder place don’t you think?

Fresh Fig & Amaretto Clafoutis Recipe

Makes 3 small individual, double recipe for 1 large one

• 2 large eggs, separated
• 4 Tbsp honey
• 1 Tbsp wholemeal spelt flour
• 1/2 Tbsp ground almonds
• 165 ml (3/4 cup) goat’s (or Greek) yoghurt)
• grated zest of 1/4 orange
• a pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• a few drops of almond essence
• 2 tsp amaretto liqueur
• 2 or 3 figs quartered
• flaked almonds

Preheat oven to 180C and oil & flour your tins or terracotta dishes.

Separate the yolks and the whites into 2 bowls. Whisk the yolks and honey until pale and creamy. Gently fold in the flour & ground almonds and stir in the yoghurt, essences, amaretto, salt & orange zest.

With an electric whisk, whisk the egg whites until firm and fluffy like meringue. Add a little of the whites to the other mixture to loosen it then carefully fold in the rest of the whites trying not top deflate them too much. When the white is incorporated into the rest, pour the mixture into the prepared dishes and top with the pieces of fig.

Bake for about 15 minutes then scatter over a few flaked almonds and bake for another 5 minutes until cooked. Longer for a large clafoutis.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Enjoy!!

Chocolate, Hazelnut and Date Caramel Tart with an Almond Crust

This tart is amazing. Seriously gorgeous, and it’s vegan and gluten-free. It tastes like Millionaires Shortbread with nuts in.

There is a crumbly nutty crust made with ground almonds and coconut oil then a layer of date caramel (new favourite thing) filled with toasted hazelnuts. Then it is finished off with a layer of dark and delicious chocolate ganache and a sprinkling of chopped nuts. It’s chewy, sweet, crunchy and crumbly at the same time and it has no butter no refined sugar and no flour. Do you love me?

Be warned though, it is very addictive and quite rich. Like that could be a bad thing. You have to make it just to let your friends and family know how delicious vegan desserts can be. No one would guess and they will all want the recipe.

This is one of the recipes from my Healthy Baking with Chocolate Workshop, the next one of which is on Saturday 2nd March from 5pm – 9pm at the Pepe Kitchen Cookery School in Benalmadena, Malaga.

At this workshop I will be demonstrating how to use olive oil and coconut oil instead of butter in baking as well as showing how to use wholemeal spelt flour and ground almonds instead of bleached white flour. We will also be using honey, maple syrup, molasses and dates instead of sugar for natural sweetness and oat milk replaces cow’s milk and cream.

The chocolate we use is either 70% cocoa solids dark chocolate or pure cocoa powder.

We will be making and tasting:

• Wholemeal Chocolate Chunk and Almond Cookies made with spelt flour & coconut oil
• Chocolate, Date & Walnut Truffles with Coconut: delicious little bites of energy & protein
• Chocolate Butterfly Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache Filling: made with spelt flour & coconut oil
• Moist Chocolate & Orange Cake made with whole oranges & ground almonds
• Chocolate, Hazelnut & Date Caramel Tart with ground almond crust

Vegan Chocolate, Hazelnut & Date Caramel Tart Recipe

Serves 8, Vegan, Gluten-Free. Adapted from Gourmande in the Kitchen

• 250 g (2 cups) ground almonds
• a pinch of salt (Himalayan if possible)
• 4 Tbsp maple syrup or miel de cana
• 4 Tbsp (60 ml) organic unrefined coconut oil, melted

Oil a 9 inch tart tin, loose bottomed if possible. Put the ground almonds & salt in a bowl, add the maple syrup/miel de cana and melted coconut oil and use a fork to blend it together until it is well combined and resembles crumble mix, a few minutes.

Tip this into the tart tin and press it out all over the base and up the sides firmly & evenly with your fingers. Prick all over the base with a fork. Put in the fridge for a t least 20 minutes. Then preheat the oven to 175 C and bake for 15-18 minutes until golden but not too dark. Leave to cool while you make the filling.

• 10 Medjool dates, soaked in 120 ml (1/2 cup) warm water
• 2 Tbsp unrefined coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
•  a pinch of salt (Himalayan)
• about 110 g (1 cup) toasted hazelnuts, chopped

Remove the stones and blend the soaked dates with the soaking liquid, melted coconut oil, salt & vanilla until smooth, thick and creamy. Stir through 3/4 of the chopped hazelnuts and then pour/scrape the mixture into the cooled tart case. Spread it out evenly with a spatula. Put in the fridge to set while you make the chocolate layer.

• 120 ml (1/2 cup) maple syrup/miel de cana
• 4 Tbsp unrefined coconut oil, melted
• 50 g raw (1/2 cup) pure cocoa/cacao powder

Blend the maple syrup/miel de cana and melted coconut oil together until well combined. Add the cocoa/cacao powder and blend again, scraping down the sides if necessary, until smooth.

Pour this over the date caramel hazelnut layer and spread out evenly with a spatula. Sprinkle over a little sea salt and the remaining chopped hazelnuts.

Put back in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.

I thought you might like to see a little YouTube video of my Healthy Baking Workshop (savoury & sweet) that took place on Sunday morning. The next one is on Saturday 23rd March 10-2pm. Just click on the link below…..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=7tU9pZPNnb4

Tarta de Santiago with Mandarin Orange Compote

Some of the almond blossom are out early this year. The almond trees don’t normally sprout their barely pink candy floss blooms for another few weeks at least but the mild weather we had over Christmas has tricked them into thinking it is nearly Spring.

They are so pretty and decorate a fairly bare landscape at this time of year. Not much is happening on the vegetable front either at the moment where I run with the dog. There are few lettuces, cabbages and some chard. What there are plenty of however, at this time of year, is oranges. They are everywhere, like the bright sunny reminders of where we live. We live in Andalucia, land of oranges and mandarins.

Oranges and almonds are a classic combination that complement each other perfectly in cooking. I have used them together before in this Mandarin Almond Drizzle Cake, these deliciously light Ricciarelli Biscuits and in this Butterbean Tagine with Quinoa & Halloumi

These organic mandarins were 60 cents a kilo at the market consequently I have quite a few. So apart from using a lot to decorate the lounge and kitchen over the holidays and snacking on them in the afternoon, I needed to find a recipe that used a few of them up.

My friend Caroline also has a tree on her terrace heavy with navel oranges so that every time I see her I leave with a huge carrier bag full of them. They are brilliant for juicing, The Washer Up has two, freshly squeezed, with his breakfast every morning, but I still needed to use some, to make room in the kitchen apart from anything else.

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Tarta de Santiago is a deliciously moist almond cake from Santiago de Compostela in Galicia. Pilgrims and tourists visit the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela where the relics of the apostle Saint James (Santiago in Spanish) are thought to be buried. They also probably all eat some of this cake as it is in every bakery window, dusted with icing sugar and decorated with the shape of the cross of the Order of Saint James.

This was one of the first desserts on our menu at the restaurant when we opened it 11 years ago. The bakery down the hill made it for us, this was before The Washer Up had perfected his pastry skills and made all of them himself. We served it warm with a hot cherry sauce which was also gorgeous if you can get hold of some cherries where you are.

This version of the cake is beautifully light because the egg whites are whisked (to a meringue basically) and folded in separately. It is gluten-free as it is made using ground almonds and dairy-free because there is no butter or milk added. The mandarin orange compote is made with honey instead of sugar and can be served warm or cold.

Tarta de Santiago with Mandarin Orange Compote

Serves 8, Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free. Adapted from Time for a little Something

• 6 large eggs, separated
• a pinch of salt
• 200 g caster sugar
• large pinch of ground cinnamon
• the zest of one orange
• a few drops of almond extract
• 250 g ground almonds
• icing sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180°. Prepare a 24-cm springform cake tin by roughly cutting a circle of baking paper a little bigger than the loose base of the tin, and put this over the base before clipping the tin back together. Rub the base & sides with a little oil.

Whisk the egg whites and salt in a large clean bowl until soft peaks form. Then whisk in half the caster sugar (100 g) a tablespoon at a time, until you have a glossy meringue texture.

In another large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the rest of the caster sugar, orange zest, almond extract and cinnamon. Beat until thick and increased in volume.

Now fold in just a little of the egg white mixture into the yolks to loosen it then fold in the rest gently, taking care not to deflate the mix too much. Then gently fold the ground almonds in too.

Spoon/pour  the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for about 45 minutes. Check it after about 30-35 minutes – if it is browning too quickly, put a piece of baking paper over the top of the tin so the cake can still cook but not brown any more. Once the cake is golden and springy, remove it from the oven and let it cool in its tin for 10 minutes

When it is cool, run a knife around the edge, turn it out onto a plate, remove the baking paper from the base and serve upside down. Dust it with icing sugar just before serving. You can make a template of the traditional St James Cross/Sword and put that in the middle of the whole tart before dusting with icing sugar which is how it is usually served.

Or I used a cross from a necklace that my dad bought me and used that on each piece of cake!! Thanks Dad xx

Mandarin Orange Compote

• 500 g oranges & mandarins
• 4 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp orange blossom water (optional)

Cut the top and bottom off the oranges then cut down around following the line of the peel to remove it all.

Using a sharp knife, cut in-between each membrane to remove a segment of orange into a small sauce pan. When all segments are removed squeeze juice into pan too.

Peel mandarins and remove as much white pith as possible and any pips.

Put all ingredients in small pan, bring to boil, lower the heat and simmer for about 15 mins or until soft and jammy. Puree, taste and adjust honey to your liking. Leave to cool or serve warm with the cake.

This cake can be served as a lovely light dessert perfect for this time of year or with your afternoon tea.

Have a Lovely Weekend! Feliz Reyes!

A Merry Christmas with Mince Pies

Just a quick hello before I go out to the post office, supermarket, Moroccan shop, forest for more cones and make more of these mince pies. The list is actually a lot longer than that but I am out of bed before 10 am (unheard of) and am not going to get stressed about anything today. I have promised myself. And breathe…

This is my recipe for mince pies and I have to say that, in my opinion, they beat any shop bought ones by a mile. They are better because: number one they contain Amaretto almond liqueur and anything tastes better with Amaretto in it. They also contain chopped toasted almonds for a bit of crunch, dried cranberries, mandarin zest and, the special ingredient, crystallised ginger. Make these and you’ll never go back to shop bought I promise. Even if you have an ever-increasing list of things to do….

In the pictures and the recipe below I have used shop bought puff pastry but I have also made a lovely batch with this spelt flour pastry recipe adding a teaspoon of mixed spice to the flour. If you don’t have all the different dried fruits you can just  use the more traditional, raisins and sultanas.

Marvelous Mince Pies Recipe

Makes 12- 16 pies, vegetarian

• 1 pack frozen puff pastry (defrosted)
• 4 Tbsp molasses/miel de cana/maple syrup
• 75 ml sweet sherry or port
• 250 g moscatel raisins
• 50 g dried figs
• 50 g dried apricots, chopped
• 50 g medjool dates without stones
• 50 gr dried cranberries
• 50 g crystallised ginger, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp mixed spice
• 1 mandarin, zest first & then juice
• about 50ml Amaretto (or Cointreau is nice)you may need to add more
• a few drops of almond extract
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp honey
• about 100 -150 gr chopped toasted almonds, roughly chopped
• olive oil for brushing
• icing sugar for dusting

In a large pan, dissolve the molasses/miel de cana in the sherry over a gentle heat. Then add the dried fruits, crystallised ginger, spices, zest and  juice of the mandarin and the Amaretto. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for about 15 minutes until all of the liquid has been absorbed stirring occasionally. You may need to add more amaretto if it is absorbed quickly.

Add the almond & vanilla extracts, honey and the nuts. Stir well to combine everything and leave the mixture to cool in a bowl.

When the mixture is cool (very important or the pastry won’t work), preheat the oven to 200 degrees and oil & flour your muffin tins.

Roll out your first piece of puff pastry to a thickness of 2mm (leave the other piece in the fridge). Cut out 6 circles of about 9 or 10 cm diameter and 6 tops of about 7 cm diameter, you may have to re roll the pastry and may get a few more than 6 if you do. Push the larger circles into the muffin tins and fill each pastry case with a dessertspoonful of the mixture. Brush the edges of the pastry base with a little oil and then top with the smaller circles. Push the edges together to seal.

Make a little slit in the top of each with a sharp knife and brush with a little olive oil (or egg wash) and bake for about 15 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and puffy. Keep an eye on them they cook quickly. Leave to cool for a few minutes then take them out of the tin. Leave the tin to cool down completely before rolling out your next batch.

Dust with icing sugar just before serving. You can serve hot, warm or room temperature with cream, ice cream or a glass of Amaretto on the side….

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Felices Fiestas!

 

Apple, Vanilla and Cinnamon Spelt Flour Galette

Apples, vanilla and cinnamon, enough said really. Heavenly combination whether in a tart or a scented candle. And if you bake the tart you can save the candle for when guests come round because this fills the house with its sweet perfume.

Or make the tart when guests come round and selfishly save the candle for when you are cosied up on the sofa with a glass of (mulled) wine, perhaps. Either way it’s a winner and cheaper than a scented candle.

I have perfected my sweet spelt flour olive oil pastry recipe using honey instead of sugar so not only is it delicious and beautiful it is also good for you.  This recipe has no sugar, no butter, no dairy and no eggs.  The base is spread with a layer of Kellie’s vanilla apple sauce that I also used in this recipe before overlapping the thinly sliced apples in concentric circles and folding up the edges of the pastry.

Apple, Vanilla & Cinnamon Galette Recipe

Makes 1 large galette, Vegan.

For the Vanilla Apple Sauce

• 500 g apples, peeled, cored, chopped
• 4 tbsp honey
• 100 ml water
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Put all ingredients in small pan,  bring to boil, lower the heat and simmer for 15 mins until soft. Puree, taste adjust honey and vanilla to your liking. Leave to cool.

For the Pastry

• 250 g wholemeal spelt flour
• a pinch of salt
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp honey/agave syrup
• up to 100 ml cold water

Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl then slowly drizzle in the oil and honey, mixing & mashing it into the flour with a fork until evenly combined and crumbly.

Slowly pour in the water a bit at a time mixing it with the fork until it comes together (you may not need all the water) then bring it together with your hand, kneading just a little until it forms a cohesive ball. Do not overwork it or it will be tough. You can refrigerate it at this time if you have time.

Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface, turning it quarter turns as you go to stop it sticking, to the correct size about 2-3 mm thick. Flour the edges of your largest dinner plate and turn it onto the pastry then cut around it so you have  large circle. Carefully remove the circle (roll it onto a floured rolling-pin) and transfer it to the lined baking tray. Put it in the fridge while you prepare the apples. You can make mini ones with any leftover pastry using a saucer or side plate.

• 2 small apples, peeled, cut into 1/8th wedges, cored then thinly sliced
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• zest of 1/2 orange
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 or 4 tbsp vanilla apple sauce (see above)
• honey/agave syrup
• water
• olive oil

Preheat the oven to 190C.  Leaving a border around the edge of about 1 – 1 1/2 inches clear, spread about 4 tbsp of the apple sauce evenly over the base of the pastry circle.

Overlap the apple slices in a circle all around the outside edge just inside the border. Then make another overlapping circle of apples going the other direction just inside the first one. Finish off with a mini circle going the same direction as the first in the middle of the circle.

Carefully roll up the edges of the pastry towards the fruit turning the tart or paper as you go until it is all done. Brush the edges of the pastry with a little olive oil and drizzle and brush the apples with a little honey/agave syrup.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the fruit is cooked. Leave to cool for 10 minutes then melt a few tablespoons of honey in a small saucepan with a tablespoon of water until it forms a smooth syrup. Paint this all over the fruit to create a shiny glaze and serve the galette warm.

This is one of the recipes from my Healthy Baking Workshop held a few weeks ago. My next workshop is on Saturday 15th December from 5pm – 9pm at Pepe Kitchen cookery school in Benalmadena, Malaga. I will be cooking and sharing  recipes from my Festive Christmas Party Menu with Middle Eastern flavour,  the perfect antidote to all that turkey. Great for a crowd, buffet or more intimate dinner party. Here is what we will be cooking….

………………

Spiced Cauliflower Soup with Chestnut Dukkah

Roasted Beetroot & Cumin Hummus with Toasted Flatbread Croutons

Lebanese Lentil Salad with Pomegranate, Fresh Herbs & Toasted Almonds

Sweet Potato, Feta & Coriander Filo Cigars with Tahini Yoghurt Sauce

Jewelled Pumpkin & Saffron Rice Pilaf with Cranberries, Pistachio & Chargrilled  Halloumi

and for dessert

Tarta de Santiago

a traditional light cake (gluten-free & dairy free) made with ground almonds flavoured with orange zest

served with an orange & mandarin sauce

……………………….

For more information and to reserve your place contact Pepe Kitchen directly.

Gingerbread Parkin with Vanilla Apple Sauce

The Washer Up has been going on about how wonderful Parkin is for ever. It’s a northern thing you see. As in, from the north of England, specifically the north-west. Yorkshire and Lancashire if you want to be precise. And they will want it to be precise. I am sure there will be comments about its origin and claims that it is definitely from Yorkshire or undenialbly from Lancashire.  I’m a soft southerner so I couldn’t give a “monkey’s” as they say down south.

So when I saw this recipe for it on one of my favourite food blogs, Kellie’s Food to Glow, this week I was desperate to give it a try. It’s traditionally served on Bonfire night – November 5th, which also happens to be our friend, Jeannes birthday. There was my excuse, as if I needed one. It was enough just to see the smile on his face. Honestly.

The Vanilla Apple Sauce that Kellie serves it with is genius. It’s like a vegan custard, a thick vanilla-y custardy apple sauce that we served warm with the hot slices of gingerbread parkin. And a sneaky scoop of vanilla ice cream if you must know. Well it was a birthday dessert.

Parkin is traditionally served cold and spread with a little butter according to The Washer Up. Whichever way it is delicious but you have to leave it wrapped up to mature for at least 3 days before you eat it.  So be patient and organised for a change because the stickiness you get is really worth the wait.

I deviated from Kellie’s recipe slightly by using half coconut oil (not very northern at all!) and half dairy-free margarine because I didn’t have enough margarine. I also used half honey because I didn’t have enough golden syrup and used wholemeal spelt flour instead of plain. It’s a wonder that I managed get anywhere near the original really but this is obviously a very forgiving recipe. No complaints from this end!!

Gingerbread Parkin Recipe

Enough for a 10″ loaf tin or an 8″ square baking tin. Adapted from Food to Glow

• 100 g butter or dairy free margarine (I used 50g coconut oil/50g marg)
• 100 g black treacle/molasses/miel de cana
• 200 g golden syrup/agave syrup (I used 100g syrup/100g honey)
• 75 g palm sugar/dark brown sugar
• 200 g flour sieved with 2 1/4 tsp baking powder & 1/4 tsp salt (I used wholemeal spelt flour)
• 100 g medium oatmeal (I blended my normal oats to finer powder)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 Tbsp ground ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp mixed spice
• 10 pieces/cubes crystallised ginger, finely chopped
• 2 eggs
• 6 Tbsp oat milk (or other milk)

Preheat the oven to 140C. Oil and completely line your baking/loaf tin with baking paper.

In a large heavy pan, melt the butter (or replacements), treacle, syrup and sugar over a low-ish  heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved.

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, make a well in the centre and pour in the melted buttery syrup, stirring together well. Beat together the eggs and milk and pour this in too. Fold all of this through until well incorporated and pour the whole lot into your lined tin.

Bake for 90 minutes until a deep golden brown and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Then leave it to cool in the tin on a wire rack.

When cool, wrap it up in its baking parchment, then in two layers of foil and leave it in a cool dry place for at least 3 days but up to a week.

Good luck with that, I managed 2 1/2 days but it really does get better and stickier and more moist the longer you leave it wrapped up so don’t eat it straight away. It won’t be the same!!

Vanilla Apple Sauce Recipe

Vegan, gluten-free.

• 500 g apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
• 100 ml water
• 4 tbsp agave syrup or honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp butter/margarine

Put the apples, water, syrup/honey and vanilla in a pan and cook gently for about 15 mins until the apples are soft then stir in the butter. You can use it as it is, if you like it chunky. Mash it up a bit more or blend it to give it a smoother creamier consistency. Taste and add more honey, vanilla or a squeeze of lemon juice to tart it up a bit. Serve it warm, or room temperature, with a slice of the parkin.

Have a Lovely Weekend!!

Sweet Quince, Fennel Seed and Pistachio Sambousek Pastries

I made these little pastries using the Persian Quince Jam from last post but you could use any jam you like. I have used this lovely fig & honey compote before too which is great if you don’t like using sugary jams.

Sambouseks are little samosa-like pastries that are normally savoury and filled with meat or cheese. I made these savoury Fig & Feta Sambouseks before, so this is just a little step in a sweeter direction. The picture below is of the savoury sambouseks and demonstrates the folding technique.

Sweet Quince, Fennel Seed & Pistachio Sambousek Pastries Recipe

Makes 16-20 pastries. Vegetarian/Vegan.

• 225 g (1 1/2 cups) white spelt flour (or normal)
• 4 tbsp olive oil plus extra for brushing
• a pinch of salt
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp sugar
• 110 ml (1/2 cup) warm water
• jam/compote/carne de membrillo
• feta cheese or ricotta or queso fresco (optional)
• honey or agave syrup
• a handful of pistachios, very finely chopped

Sieve the flour sugar and salt into a large bowl then stir in the fennel seeds. Add the olive oil, mixing it in with a fork then make a well in the middle of the flour and pour in the warm water. With your hand, fold the flour into the water, turning the bowl as you go until you get a sticky dough.

Turn it out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and no longer sticky, 1 or 2 minutes. Wrap in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for at least an hour.

Preheat the oven to 180C and line two baking sheets with parchment brushed with a little oil.

Flour your work surface and rolling-pin and roll the dough out until it is about 2mm thick. Cut out small circles about 3 inches in diameter (use a floured cutter or a glass). Lift the excess pastry away from the circles  and re-roll it and cut out more circles. Keep doing this until you have used most of the dough. You should get 16-20 in total depending on the thickness of your dough.

Put the circles on the lined baking tray and, using a teaspoon place a small amount of jam in the centre of the circle and top with a little cheese (if using). Lift up the two opposite edges and seal them above the filling. Seal the two other ends by pinching them together to create a four-cornered sambousek. (See picture above). They can be refrigerated at this point if necessary.

Brush the tops of the sambouseks with a little olive oil and bake for 15 -25 minutes until golden and cooked. Leave to cool slightly then brush the tops with honey or agave syrup and dip them in the finely chopped pistachios.

Serve the sweet sambouseks warm or at room temperature with a glass of fresh mint tea or Turkish coffee.

Enjoy!!

Fresh Fig and Almond Fumble

A fumble, just in case you were wondering or being smutty, is a cross between a fool and a crumble. The best bits of two classic British desserts brought together to create something beautiful and simple to make. It is extremely versatile too. You can basically use whichever fruits are in season. Strawberries, apples, plums, mangoes, pears, rhubarb, gooseberries, you get the idea.

A fool is traditionally made with a fruit puree or compote stirred (or marbled) through whipped cream. I used goat’s yoghurt instead of cream, the sourness is fantastic with the sweet sticky fig compote. You could use Greek yoghurt or a mixture of yoghurt and whipped cream if you like.

My crumble is made with olive oil and honey rather than butter and sugar so it is all round a really healthy dessert. The crumble  is given extra flavour and crunch by adding flaked and ground almonds to the mix. I chose almonds because I saw  families picking their almonds at the same time as picking their figs today and the figs at the market looked beautiful.

I made a compote with the figs just by cooking them with some honey and a bit of water until it resembled runny jam. I left it to cool while I made the crumble mix. You just spread out all of the crumbly lumps on a baking sheet and cook it until it is browning. When it’s cool you can store it in an airtight container and use it to top ice creams, stewed fruit, yoghurt and anything else you think could do with a sweet crunch. This recipe makes more than you need so you should have some left over, unless you keep picking at it of course.

Fig & Almond Fumble Recipe

Makes 2, vegetarian. No butter, no sugar, no cream. Adapted form Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall

• 200 g soft ripe figs, roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp water

Put the figs, honey and water in a sauce pan, bring to a  boil then lower the heat to medium and simmer until it resembles a jammy compote. About 3-5 minutes. Leave to cool.

• 3 tbsp ground almonds
• 6 tbsp wholemeal spelt flour (or any flour)
• 3 tbsp oats
• 3 tbsp flaked almonds
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• a pinch of salt
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp honey

Preheat the oven to 180C and line a baking sheet with parchment. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Using a fork,  mix in the olive oil and honey the using your fingers make it resemble crumble. You should make lots of  clumpy crumble lumps. Spread the crumble out in one layer on the baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes but keep an eye on it incase it burns. It depends how big your clumps are as to how long it will take. It should be nicely browned. Now leave it to cool.

• 2 pots or 250ml goat’s/Greek yoghurt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• about 4 large tbsp fig compote in each serving
• a large handful of crumble mix for each

When the compote and crumble mix have cooled, mix the yoghurt and vanilla in a bowl and swirl through the compote. Taste it and add some honey if you think it needs it but remember the crumble is going on top.

Pour into serving dishes and top with a generous handful of crumble mix. You may have to crumble it more if you have large clumps.

Enjoy!!

Peach and Almond Spelt Cake with Passionfruit Syrup

Summer is all about fruit in Andalucia. It is at the moment anyway. Fruit and tomatoes, which are technically a fruit anyway. We went to the market this weekend and bought two kilos of peaches for a euro and quarter of a kilo of passionfruit (which is a lot) for the same price, one euro. Passionfruit are usually ridiculously expensive, I couldn’t believe it.

I have been photographing these peaches while walking the dog and today we saw some almonds hatching out of their furry jackets on the trees next to them.

I have been blending peaches, passionfruit pulp and orange juice for breakfast smoothies (with flaxmeal, flax seeds and flax seed oil) but still nowhere near using them all and I saw two gorgeous peach cake recipes, both on beautiful Italian blogs, that I couldn’t get out of my head.

A Peach & Mead Cake on Juls’ Kitchen and a Peach & Hazelnut Cake on Lucullian Delights both had me desperate to try something similar. I added Amaretto (my liqueur of choice) in the absence of mead and swapped the hazelnuts to ground almonds. I also decided to use a mix of white and wholemeal spelt flours and used coconut oil and olive oil instead of butter. So it’s dairy and wheat-free. As well as moist and delicious.

You could obviously serve it with some cream or ice cream but to keep it dairy-free and because of the pile of bargain passionfruit, I made a passionfruit syrup/coulis or sauce, whatever you want to call it, to pour liberally over the top. Make sure you buy the old and wrinkly looking ones that are ripe.

Peach & Almond Spelt Cake with Passionfruit Syrup

Makes 1 cake, Vegetarian, Wheat-Free, Dairy-Free. Adapted from Lucullian Delights

• 500 gr peaches (I used 4), peeled and sliced
• 3 tbsp soft brown (or raw) sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 or 3 tbsp Amaretto
• 1 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch (maybe)

Put the peaches, sugar, cinnamon and 2 tbsp amaretto in a small saucepan and bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 4-5 minutes. If it is still a bit liquidy you can dissolve the cornflour in some amaretto and stir that in. Keep cooking until it thickens like jam. Leave it to cool while you make the cake.

• 3 eggs
• 175 gr soft brown (or raw) sugar
• 1+1/2 tbsp oat milk (or any milk)
• 1 +1/2 tbsp amaretto
• a few drops of almond extract
• 75 gr olive oil plus 75 gr coconut oil (or 150 gr melted butter)
• 100 gr ground almonds
• 180 gr white spelt flour (or normal flour)
• 120 gr wholemeal spelt flour, or normal wholemeal flour ( I used 100 g wholemeal spelt flour plus 20 gr flaxmeal)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• a big pinch of salt

Whisk the eggs and sugar together for a few minutes until light and fluffy then add the milk, amaretto, almond extract, both oils (or melted butter) and mix well. Sieve over the dry ingredients, tipping  any wholemeal bits left in the sieve into the bowl too, and fold them into the wet ingredients gently with a rubber spatula until just combined. Don’t overmix or it will be tough. It is quite a sticky batter.

Preheat the oven to 175 C and oil and flour (or breadcrumb) the inside of your cake tin. I used a 23 cm 9″ cake tin with a removable base. If your cake tin is smaller you will get a deeper cake and may have to cook it for longer.

Pour about two-thirds of the batter into the cake tin then cover with an even layer of the peaches. Tip out the rest of the batter onto the peaches and cover as much as you can. Cook for 30-40 minutes until lightly browned and a cocktail stick come out clean. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack and dust with icing sugar if you like before slicing.

Passionfruit Syrup Recipe

serves 4-6, vegan, gluten-free

• about 9 passionfruit
• the juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 2 tbsp soft brown (or raw) sugar

Halve the passionfruit and scrape out all the pulp with a teaspoon into a small saucepan. Squeeze over the lemon juice and add the sugar. Bring to the boil stirring occasionally, then lower the heat and simmer for about four minutes. Taste and add more sugar/lemon juice as required. It should be tart and sweet at the same time and your kitchen will smell amazing!

Serve each slice of the cake with a generous drizzle of the passionfruit syrup.

Buen Provecho!

Rustic Plum and Lavender Galette

This post is dedicated to my Auntie Pat who left us unexpectedly on Monday night.  She was an amazing woman who lived life to the full and was always there for everyone no matter what. She has left a huge void in all our lives and no one really knows what to do next.

A Shining Star

She was like the sun

And we were all little planets floating around in her orbit

Some  near, some far away

But all held together by the magnetism of her warmth and love

They say the sun is just a huge star

And that the stars died millions of years ago

But we can still see them at night

So as long as there are stars up in the sky

She, the sun, will never die

I used the same wholemeal olive oil pastry recipe that I used for my Fresh Fig & Goat’s Cheese Quiche but added a few tablespoons of sugar, reduced the salt and added some dried lavender instead of the rosemary and oregano.

I’ve been wanting to make a galette for a while now but when I saw this recipe with stunning pictures on Cafe Fernando I knew I had to copy it. Arranging the plums like this is not as difficult as it looks but slicing them is a little fiddly, you need quite firm plums if you pardon the expression.

This amount of pastry made enough for one large galette and two mini individual ones. I cut around a large dinner plate for the large and two bread plates or saucers for the mini ones. I made a mini fig galette a mini plum. You could use nectarines, peaches, apples, pears or apricots too. Just try to keep them in one layer so the fruit doesn’t get too wet and make the pastry soggy.

Rustic Plum & Lavender Galette

Makes 1 large plus two mini individual galettes. Vegan.

Pastry recipe from Chocolate & Zucchini. Filling from Cafe Fernando

Prep time: 35 mins Cooking time 45 mins

• 250 g wholemeal or spelt flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp chopped dried lavender (optional)
• 2 tbsp raw or soft brown sugar
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) olive oil
• 120 ml (1/2 cup) cold water

Mix the flour, salt, sugar & lavender (if using) in a large bowl then slowly add the oil mixing/mashing it in with a fork until crumbly. Add an ice-cube to the water and slowly pour it (not the ice-cube) into the flour and mix it in with the fork until just absorbed then bring it together with one hand kneading a little just until it forms a cohesive ball. Do not over work or it will be tough.

Roll it out on a lightly floured surface, turning it quarter turns as you go to stop it sticking, to the correct size about 2-3 mm thick. Flour your largest dinner plate, turn it onto the pastry and cut around it so you have a large circle. Carefully remove the circle to a piece of baking parchment and put in the fridge for 30 minutes while you prep the filling. Make mini ones with the leftover pastry using small bread plates or saucers.

• plums (I used about 8 or 9 small ones and a couple of figs for the mini galette)
• 2 tbsp or more raw or brown sugar (depending how sweet, or not the plums are)
• 1 or 2 tbsp ground almonds (optional) I used this with the figs to soak up their juices
• olive oil
• apricot or plum jam
• water

Prepare your fruit by halving, removing the stones and slicing them into 3- 5 mm thick pieces. They don’t have to be perfect, it’s easier if the fruit is underripe.

Preheat the oven to 190 C. Place the pastry circle on the baking paper on a baking tray. Leaving a border around the edge of about 1+ 1/2 inches clear, sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar (plus the tablespoon of ground almonds for juicier fruit) evenly over the base of the pastry circle.

Overlap the fruit in a circle all around the outside edge inside the border. Then make another circle of overlapping fruit, going in the opposite direction, just inside the first one. Finish off with a mini circle going the same direction as the first one in the middle of the circle. (see pictures above).

Start to carefully roll up the edge of the pastry towards the fruit turning the tart (or paper) as you go around until it’s all done. Brush the edges of the pastry with olive oil and sprinkle the sugar all over the fruit. Use more if you think the fruit is very tart.

Bake for 40 -45 minutes (25-30 for the minis) until the pastry is golden and the fruit cooked. Leave to cool for 10 minutes. Make the glaze by melting a few tablespoons of seedless jam in a pan with a few tablespoons of water until it forms a smooth syrup. Paint this all over the fruit and serve the galette warm. Some vanilla ice cream or  creme fraiche would be nice to go with it but it is good on its own too.

I just wish she could be here to enjoy it.

For you Auntie Pat

With Lots of Love